1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a particularly compact exercising device designed to be anchored either by or on the exerciser's body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The art of exercising equipment is an extremely crowded one, to which the present inventor has contributed his share. However, generally speaking, almost all exercising apparatuses, except those consisting solely of liftable weights designed to be grasped by the hands, generally are bulky, relatively complex in design, not adapted to be readily carried about, not light in weight, particularly on a weight-per-pound-of-resistance ratio, are composed of many parts, and are quite costly, particularly for the average pocketbook. Exemplificative of such designs as shown in the patented art are the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,397,054; 3,471,145; 3,937,461; 4,195,835; 4,290,599 and 4,391,440. Of the foregoing U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,471,145 and 4,290,599 are only relevant in that they show portable exercising devices, but their portability is somewhat questionable in that they have one rather long dimension which would make them difficult to pack in a small suitcase.
The remaining four patents, namely, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,397,054; 3,937,461; 4,195,835 and 4,391,440, are more relevant to the invention which forms the subject matter of the present application in that they disclose exercising devices, including strings as the elements which connect the hand-grippable elements with resistance elements for exercising purposes. But these devices include mechanical components having at least one long dimension which make the devices impractical to pack in a small suitcase.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 2,397,054 discloses an exercising apparatus in which there is a large base totally incapable of being enclosed in a small suitcase, the base being provided with guideways in which trolleys ride. The trolleys are attached to coil springs that, in turn, are attached to cables which run to handles. The user operates the apparatus much like a rowing machine. Considerable space is required to pack the apparatus for transport or for storage, and the apparatus is only capable of being used in the performance of a few rather simple exercising maneuvers.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,937,461 discloses an exerciser for aerial calisthenics. It is the type of apparatus designed to be attached to a tyro during instruction in calisthenics, and includes a harness attached to strings led through a series of pulleys to hand grips which enable a trainer or trainers to manipulate the tyro during the performance of aerial exercises being learned. Even if used solely for exercising rather than for training, this equipment is cumbersome and could not be packed in a small space for transport or storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,835 discloses a cable exercising apparatus which includes a pair of treads connected by forks to opposite ends of an elastic cable, the intermediate portion of which is received in a groove formed at the top of a bar designed to be held at about crotch level when the cable is relaxed. The bar is necessarily quite long and would prevent this apparatus from being packed in a small suitcase for storage or transport. The device of this patent is useful only for one form of exercise, namely, vertical lifting from crotch to shoulder or fully-upstretched hands.